A New Perspective



Christmas Stories. We all know the traditional stories. Of santa of Jesus in a manger, the Savior of our world. But all too often, we live in these stories and we forget the extraordinary nature of them. The God of the universe come down in a manger, the Savior of creation who lived to die for us, though we do not deserve it. In Christmas Stories, we see a collection of short stories by Max Lucado. In Part 1 we look more at the lives of those impacted by Jesus, where Christ is Celebrated. In Part 2 we look at the story of Jesus through different eyes, from Gabriel to Mary to Joseph to a little bow who worked in a carpenter shop that crafted the manger in which Jesus lay.

I really enjoyed this collection of stories. Part 1 is my favorite however, I really enjoyed the Christmas Candle as it told a story of how God can use an ordinary situation to bless His followers, that sometimes hope is what is needed. Maybe He is the Messiah was another wonderful story, and if it does not cause someone to think of their actions, of how they would respond, I do not know what would. The Christmas Child was definitely a tearjerker, as was the Answer is Yes, both are stories I will be reading with my friends next time Christmas comes around. The North Pole or the Manger was a comparison between Jesus and santa, between Salvation and presents. Which would you choose?

Part 2, was interesting as well. We got to see perspectives from Gabriel, Joseph, and a carpenter named Jacob. We saw Christ from different perspectives and it all shows just how much He gave up for us, for people that would later crucify Him on a cross. How amazing is that love? How can one not want to praise it.

After reading this book, I would gladly give it 5/5 stars. It was phenomenal and caused me to look at things differently, I suggest for each of you to read it to your families at well around Christmas Time, it will make a good 'Advent Calendar' of sorts, perhaps reading a chapter or a few pages each evening until the book is complete. Either way, purchase this book, you will not regret it.

I received his book for free via BookSneeze's blogging for books program. I was in no way required to give a positive review, however due to the nature of this book chose to give a 5 star review on the merits of the author's work. I look forward to reading more of Max Lucado's books in the future.

Stressing Out? Check This Out!

In her book Stress Point, Sarah Martin introduces us to a book designed to address different points of contention that a female may encounter during their 20s. The target audience is 20-30 year old females. Martin takes a look at career, self image, body image, love and dating, serious romantic relationships, friends and family, money, independence, making a difference, and spiritual maturity in her book.

I enjoyed the cover to the book and thought it was creative, however, at times I found it hard to thoroughly engage with Martin's writing style, however she more than made up for that with the different questions and answers she had interspersed throughout the book. I enjoyed the fact that Martin constantly had us engaging with the material we'd read. As I received an e-book copy of this title, I found it a bit more difficult to completely interact as I did not like having to use a separate padd of paper. It'd be nice if the e-book format could have a website where you could enter information or something on the page by which you could interact, but I understand that technology is not yet there at this point in the book search for that. This is not a criticism of the author but more what I wish could be reality in general for any book that has a question/answer portion to it.

Each 'stress point' had a specific flow to it as Martin attempted to show a loving and caring God to her readers.

I enjoyed this book and would recommend it to individuals in my age group to read. I give this book 4/5 stars for being easy to read and engage.

I received this book for free via BookSneeze in exchange for my honest review.